The 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight at Fort Branch
Rifled and Banded 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight at Fort Branch near Hamilton, North Carolina
A rifled and banded 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight is displayed at Fort Branch near Hamilton, North Carolina. The fort, which overlooks the Roanoke River and was built to counter any attempt by US Navy gunboats to press up river, was evacuated in April of 1865. Most of the fort’s cannons were dumped into the river. Although three or four were recovered by the US Navy soon afterward, the rest remained on the river bottom until the 1970s. The seven recovered cannons (plus a fragment of a burst gun), remains of original carriages, projectiles, and other artifacts represent a truly remarkable collection of artillery connected with a single site and displayed there.
The Cannon: As originally manufactured this cannon was a smoothbore US Navy 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight. It was cast by Tredegar Foundry in Richmond, Virginia in 1849. As originally manufactured it’s weight in hundredweight was given as “57-1-27” (6,439 pounds). It was inspected by US Navy inspector John S. Chauncey. It’s original US Navy registry number was 628.
It is very possible that this cannon was among the nearly 1,200 seized by Virginia forces at the Gosport Navy Yard in 1861. The cannon was converted by the Confederates who gave it 7x7 Brooke-type rifling and a wrought-iron reinforcing band. Unlike most preserved heavy cannons of the period, this 32-Pounder retains an element of its sighting system - the brass bracket for the adjustable rear sight is still mounted on the breech. The bracket display’s the cannon’s registry number of 628. The front sight, also numbered, still exists, though it is in the Thomas Swift Dickey, Sr. Collection at the Atlanta History Center. The front sight had been recovered from the river prior to the main recovery efforts.
The Type: The 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight was the heaviest 32-Pounder of the 1845 reform of US Navy armament for its ships. This cannon was intended to form the main battery of heavy frigates and ships of the line. Lighter 32-Pounders which would fire the same projectile but with reduced propellent charges were designed for upper decks and smaller ships. The 1845 system was superseded by the heavy shellguns designed by John Dahlgren after 1855, but many remained in Navy hands, and large numbers were captured at Gosport. Rifling the cannon and reinforcing the breech with a wrought iron band created a 6.4-Inch Rifle. Projectile weight varied but was often at least twice that of the original 32-Pounder, and the rifled cannons were capable of greater accuracy than the old smoothbores. They would fire solid shot or explosive shell as required. The type was used both by the Confederate Navy (like the examples of CSS Teaser and CSS Georgia) and by the Army in fortifications on land like the example displayed at Fort Branch and the two at Fort Fisher. For the Confederate defenders of Fort Branch, the converted rifles may not have been as effective or reliable as purpose made Brooke Rifles, but they were available.
For further information, see:
Babits, Stratton, and Norris. “The Fort Branch Cannon.” The Artilleryman. Volume 38, No. 2. (Spring 2017).
Olmstead, Edwin, Stark, Wayne E., Tucker, Spencer C. The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon. Museum Restoration Service, 1997.
The website of Fort Branch Civil War Site: https://fortbranchcivilwarsite.com/
Closeup of the brass bracket marked “628” mounted on the breech of the 32-Pounder. The adjustable rear sight would have fit into this bracket.
Four heavy cannons at Fort Branch. From near to far: the 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight, a 24 Pounder siege gun, the only surviving 4.62-Inch Gibbon and Andrews Rifle, and a second 24-Pounder siege gun.
The interpretive sign displayed on the 32-Pounder at Fort Branch
The muzzle of the 32-Pounder at Fort Branch
Recovered projectiles at Fort Branch. The two at left show the difference between a round projectile fired by a 32-Pounder smoothbore and the shell behind it for a 32-Pounder which has been rifled.
The right trunnion of the 32-Pounder showing the 1849 date.
A Banded and rifled 32-Pounder of 57 Hundredweight at Fort McAllister in Georgia. Fort Branch’s 32-Pounder may have been mounted in a similar fashion. Library of Congress Photo.
